Sandy Hook students to return to class

By Olivia Smith and David Ariosto, CNN

Updated 0008 GMT (0808 HKT) January 3, 2013

Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Mourners wipe tears away as they file out of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the funeral of Emilie Parker in Ogden, Utah, on Saturday, December 22.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – The casket of Rachel Marie D'Avino is carried into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Connecticut on Friday, December 21.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Parents attend the funeral of Dylan Hockley, 6, a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, on December 21 in Newtown, Connecticut.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – A view from outside the funeral service for 6-year-old Dylan Hockley at Walnut Hill Community Church on December 21.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Family members depart the Trinity Episcopal Church in Newtown, Connecticut, following a funeral for Benjamin Wheeler, 6, on December 20.

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Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Mourners, including Boy Scout and Tiger Scout members, depart the funeral on December 20, 2012. Wheeler was a member of Tiger Scout Den 6.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Boy scouts salute as a funeral procession for Benjamin Wheeler enters the Trinity Episcopal Church on December 20, in Newtown, Connecticut.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Firefighters salute as the casket of Daniel Barden, 7, a victim of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, is removed from St. Rose of Lima Church on Wednesday, December 19, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Police escort the hearse bearing the casket of Daniel Barden from St. Rose of Lima Church on December 19.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Mourners enter St. Rose of Lima Church for the funeral of Charlotte Bacon, 6, on December 19, in Newtown.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – A police officer directs traffic as mourners enter the church for Charlotte Bacon's funeral on December 19.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – A procession arrives for the funeral of Victoria Soto, 27, at Lordship Community Church in Stratford, Connecticut, on December 19. Soto was a first-grade teacher being hailed as a hero for protecting the children in her class during last week's school massacre in Newtown.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – A woman carries a program with Soto's photo after attending a funeral for the slain teacher in Stratford on December 19.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Bagpipers play at funeral services for Soto on December 19 in Stratford.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Richard and Krista Rekos leave after a funeral service for their 6-year-old daughter, Jessica, at Saint Rose of Lima Church on Tuesday, December 18, in Newtown. Jessica was one of 20 children killed in last week's school shooting.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Family and friends depart Jessica's funeral on December 18 in Newtown.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – A child stands next to a makeshift memorial for Jessica Rekos following her funeral on December 18.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Pallbearers carry out James Mattioli's casket at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church after a funeral Mass on December 18 in Newtown. James, 6, was one of the 26 victims in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Mourners console each other after the funeral for James Mattioli on December 18.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – People arrive for the funeral of Jessica Rekos, 6, at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Newtown on December 18.

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Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Jessica Rekos' casket arrives at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church as mourners gather December 18.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Mourners console each other after attending the funeral for Jack Pinto, 6, on December 17.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Mourners grieve the death of Jack Pinto, 6, on December 17.

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Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – A mother and two children attend the funeral for Jack Pinto on December 17. Children are among those crowding the funeral for the 6-year-old boy.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – A man comforts a young mourner at Honan Funeral Home while attending the funeral for Jack Pinto, 6, on December 17.

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Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Boys enter Honan Funeral Home before Jack Pinto's funeral on December 17 in Newtown.

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Funerals: Community says goodbye30 photos

Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Veronika Pozner, mother of Noah Pozner, arrives for her son's funeral on Monday, December 17, at the Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home in Fairfield, Connecticut. Monday is the first day of funerals for the 20 children and seven adults who were killed by 20-year-old Adam Lanza on December 14.

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Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Three women embrace as they arrive for the funeral services for Noah Pozner on December 17.

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Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Mourners arrive at Noah Pozner's service in Fairfield on December 17.

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Newtown funerals: Community says goodbye – Mourners leave Noah Pozner's service on December 17 in Fairfield.

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Story highlights

Sandy Hook students return to class for the first time since the December 14 shooting

The students will travel to Chalk Hill Middle School in the nearby town of Monroe, Connecticut

The shooter killed his mother and then 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School

For the first time since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Christine Wilford plans do something remarkable on Thursday that once was routine: drop her child off at school.

The last time her 7-year-old son, Richie, was in class was on December 14, when a gunman smashed his way into his school in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 26 children and adults.

As shots rang out, Richie's teacher locked the door and huddled her students into the corner as the shooter roamed the hallways, wielding an AR-15 assault rifle and firing.

When it appeared safe, the children were then hurried away to a nearby fire station, where teary parents either reunited with their sons and daughters or learned that they had been killed.

Nearly a month later, Wilford said her son still has trouble sleeping and is often scared by loud noises.